


Exhaustion with the Stars Above

by Widow_Spyder



Series: Sengen Week [3]
Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, Day 3, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sengen week, Sickfic, Sleep Deprivation, Sleepy Cuddles, Stargazing, author is too sleep deprived, sengen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:22:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22061761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Widow_Spyder/pseuds/Widow_Spyder
Summary: “There are billions of stars out there. Millions of other universes we can’t see or hear, and yet we know they’re out there through science.” Senku trailed off before lowering his voice impossibly lower. “At least — at least that’s what Byakuya told me when I was little.”Gen understood immediately now.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Series: Sengen Week [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584016
Comments: 18
Kudos: 296





	Exhaustion with the Stars Above

There are nights when looking out of the observatory at all the stars in the sky was the most beautiful sight you could see. There are also nights where it’s so cold you need to bundle up and sleep so close to someone to preserve heat. 

That was the arrangement Gen and Senku had. They slept in the observatory together while Chrome slept on the bottom floor of his shed. Together, they would whisper and talk for hours on end about dozens of different topics, ranging from new projects to old-world debates. Sometimes, they even managed to avoid sleep until the morning and just stay up all night. 

That was the arrangement Senku had been pulling for the past three nights. 

Every time, Gen was left staring at Senku’s back as he stared a hole into the telescope and babbled back and forth about math and physics equations that Gen didn’t understand, while he nodded and hummed his acknowledgment. It was troublesome because Gen _knew_ there was something on Senku’s mind that was keeping him awake. Senku was an avid believer in staying healthy, especially now in the stone world where any virus could be fatal, and forcing himself to remain awake went right against that. The only thing was that Senku refused to discuss why and it was starting to irk Gen to no end. Especially after having spent three nights awake along with him. 

“Hey, Senku-chan.” Gen greeted as he entered the observatory. Senku was in the exact same position he had been in the previous nights. His back towards Gen and a dozen leather pages surrounding him on the floor with various measuring instruments. “Tea?” Gen offered, holding a tray out in Senku’s line of vision. 

“No, thanks.”

“What are you doing?”

“Calculating.” 

“I can see that.” Gen forced a smile. “You haven’t done anything else for the last three days,” Gen muttered that last part to himself. They continued sitting in silence for a while before Gen finally had enough. “Senku-chan?”

“Yes, Gen?” 

“Why don’t we try something different tonight.” 

“Such as?”

Gen felt himself twitch at the half-answers he was getting. He got up and made Senku lean his head back to look at him as he made his suggestion. “Actually, going to bed for once.”

Senku, honest to god, pouted at him before whipping his head free and going back to looking through the telescope. “I’m busy.”

“No, no, you aren’t busy, you’re occupying yourself with random tasks so that you can avoid sleep.” Gen crossed his arms, not bothering to hide his annoyance with the other.

Senku scowled. “Am not.” 

“Don’t lie to me.” 

“There is no deep meaning behind this, mentalist.” 

“Really?” Gen quipped. “Then do you mind telling me exactly what you’ve been doing the past three nights?”

“Calculating things you wouldn’t understand.” 

“That’s it.” Gen grabbed Senku the shoulders and pushed him down to the ground. To prevent him from leaving, he crawled on top of Senku’s waist and pinned his arms down. “You are going to bed right now.”

“No! Get off, stupid mentalist!” Senku squirmed and managed to knock Gen off and roll him away. But Gen wasn’t giving up that easily, and before they knew it, both were wrestling with each other on the floor. 

“You —” Gen gasped when he felt an elbow hit his stomach. “Are going to bed!”

Senku heaved out a large breath and flailed his body harder. “Am not!” 

Eventually, Senku was able to escape from Gen’s grasp after a particularly hard kick to Gen’s lower stomach. Once free, Senku scrambled over to the far end of the observatory, staring at the other as he got up and brushed himself off. The leather pages were strewn everywhere, and the charcoal writings on them were smeared and unreadable. 

“Senku - cha —” 

Senku glared, interrupting Gen before he could go on. “Get out.” 

“Excuse me?”

“Door.” Senku pointed to the doors, continuing to stare at the other with his anger flared up. “Out.”

“Are you seriously kicking me out?” Gen sputtered, as his brain started screeching to a halt.

“Go, Gen!” Senku yelled, not caring if half the village had heard him or not.

“Fine! But don’t come crying to me when you end up passing out from exhaustion!” Gen yelled back, slamming the observatory door behind him. 

Once outside and far enough away, Gen let out a groan that mixed with a huff of exasperation and sadness. He immediately regretted everything from the yelling to slamming the door. He wanted to desperately go back and apologize, hug Senku and let him know it was alright. 

The psychology part of Gen’s brain prevented him from going, though. Senku was probably still heated up right now and going back now would probably cause more arguments. He’d have to wait until Senku was ready to open up. 

Meanwhile, Senku sat in shock on the floor of the observatory, staring at the door with his eyes wide. He couldn’t decide what he didn’t want to believe more. The outburst he had at Gen of all people or the fact that they had fought for the first time. He wanted to run out and chase after Gen, apologize for what happened, and lead him back to the observatory to talk. 

The logical part of Senku’s brain prevented him from doing that, though. Gen was probably halfway out of the village by then, and he might’ve been the last person Gen wanted to see at the moment. He’d have to wait until Gen was ready to see him. 

Evidently, they both thought the same thing at the same time. _Hopefully, this won’t last long…_

———————

The fight ended up lasting a lot longer than _everyone_ thought. Senku practically avoided Gen like he was a plague, and Gen kept to himself a lot more. He never changed facial expressions, nor did he make any grand gestures or even stay for extended amounts of time in the village. If you looked, you’d find him sulking somewhere with a grim look on his face, tucked away on some high tree branch or in the river.

Senku wasn’t doing any better. The lack of sleep was making him more nit-picky and annoyed at everything. It even got to the point where he yelled at Chrome for not understanding an explanation he was making. Progress was halted significantly because of it. 

After the second day, a unanimous agreement was made by Ishigami village. Either Senku and Gen made up from whatever fight they had, or the village would be doomed to Tsukasa and Hyouga’s hands. 

And they tried. Chrome tricked them into walking into the same room together and getting them to talk it out, Suika begged them to get along, and even Kohaku forcibly held them by the hands for hours. Each time, they refused or backed out, apologizing individually to everyone else after. 

After two more days, the toll of putting off sleep finally had Senku’s body succumbing to what it desperately wanted. 

At the time, Gen was sat by the river, counting each shiny rock he could see under the surface of the water. He nearly fell forward and got soaked when Kohaku suddenly jumped out of the bushes and jump scared him. He was about to question why she had done that when she grabbed him by the ear and started pulling him to the village.

“Ow! Kohaku-chan, what’s going on!?” Gen wailed, trying to get out of Kohaku’s grip. 

Kohaku, honest to the gods, growled at him before saying. “There’s an emergency, and we need you.” 

“Can’t someone else go?!” 

Suddenly, Kohaku released her grip, turned around, and roughly poked his chest, staring holes into his skull. “Oh just shut up and follow me!” 

“Why?!” Gen asked, following anyway to avoid getting hit. Kohaku’s next sentence made his blood run cold. 

“Senku passed out!”

———————

When Senku first woke up, it took him a while before he realized he didn’t know where he was or what had happened. His head felt cloudy and his chest was tight. It’s hard to breathe, but he’s able to manage enough to open his eyes and see Gen hovering above him with a scowl on his face. Or at least, Senku thinks he sees a scowl. It’s harder to tell with the doctor mask Gen was wearing.

“Hello, Senku.” Gen greeted him with a hollowness in his voice. Senku blinked rapidly, not believing what he was seeing. Instead, he turned his head back and forth to look around and idly realized he wasn’t not in the science shed or observatory but was actually in their medical hut for the sick and injured. 

“Wha—”

Gen cut him off before he could finish. “Would you like to know what happened?” He asked before continuing without letting Senku respond. “Well, let me enlighten you. You went so long without any sleep that you passed out. Now you’re in the med hut with a bit of a fever and a week off of work.”

The last bit Senku hears is what makes him clumsily sit up in surprise. “A week?!”

“If it were my choice, I’d make it two.” Gen pushed Senku down back onto his designated bed. “And you will stay here until the village doctor finds you ready to leave.” He ordered as he stood up and took the cloth that was on Senku’s forehead, re-wetted it, and then placed it back again. 

“But -” Senku starts but doesn’t get to finish again as Gen’s expression flares up. 

“Save it!” Gen’s voice raised high and echoed off the walls before he took a deep audible breath and continued in a lower tone. “For someone who wants to hear it.”

Senku couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but after hearing that statement come out of Gen’s mouth to him, all the air in the room suddenly felt like it had disappeared. Logically, Senku’s brain would tell him it was his clogged sinuses, preventing him from breathing properly, but un-logically, it felt like Gen had physically ripped out his lungs with one cold glare and a sentence. 

Gen kept the hardened expression on his face, with the same glare in his eyes. “I’ll go inform the doctor you’re awake.” He said, walking to the door and closing it behind him with a slam. 

_Gen’s mad._ The mantra in Senku’s mind played over and over again. _Gen’s mad at me._

Senku’s last thought before he loses the battle to sleep was that Gen being mad at him was the worst feeling in the world.

———————

The next time Senku awoke, it was dark out, and his head felt a lot clearer than it had before. When his eyes adjusted more, he realized three things. One, he was still in the medical hut. Two, it was dark out and three, there was a looming figure sat next to him.

Senku shifted and tried to ask who it was, but his voice decided to rebel against him, and all that came out was a huff and then a few rough coughs. 

“Easy, Senku.” A familiar voice tells him, before the looming shape starts to look more and more like a certain blonde headed warrior lioness. Hands are then on his back, helping him sit up to drink from a cup. “Here, drink.” 

After greedily lapping up the water offered to him, Senku was laid back down and once again tried to use his voice, satisfied when it actually came out. “Kohaku?” He said, getting a relieved smile in return. 

“Welcome back, Senku.” Kohaku patted his cheek with a soft voice. Senku nearly cringed when he thought of why she was so gentle with him. 

“How long?” 

Kohaku let the smile drop a little before whispering. “Two and a half days.”

Senku groaned. “Crap.”

“You scared us. How do you feel?”

“Better. Sorry about that.” Senku grimaced as he rubbed his tired eyes. 

“Gen told us you weren’t getting any sleep,” Kohaku said, her face hardening as she started scolding him. “Really, Senku, you of all people know better than that.”

Senku wasn’t really paying attention. At the mention of Gen’s name, he immediately remembered their last conversation. “Where is Gen?” Senku asked. 

Kohaku squinted at him before gesturing her hand towards the corner of the hut. It was hard to see in the dark at first, but eventually, Senku’s vision cleared a bit more, and he was able to spot a familiar purple robe hung over their medical desk. Senku sat up a little to get a better look and confirmed that it was indeed, Gen fast asleep with his head in his arms on the table using his coat as a blanket. 

Kohaku looked over as well and sighed. “He fell asleep a few hours ago. What’re you doing?” She asked as Senku started shifting further to one side of his bed, leaving an open patch and pulling the blankets down to make room. 

“Kohaku. Can you do me a favor?” Senku asked, very pointedly looking between her and Gen. 

There was a pause before Kohaku caught onto Senku’s intention. “Sure, I get it.” She said, standing up and walking over to Gen. Gently she leaned him back and picked him up in her arms, carrying him over to the space Senku made in his bed. Gen didn’t even stir throughout the whole thing, staying deeply asleep as Kohaku laid him down next to Senku, who pulled the blankets back over them. 

“You know he’s been awake this whole time, worried for you,” Kohaku said, helping tuck them both in and changing the rag on Senku’s forehead. 

“Has he?” Senku raised his eyebrows at her. 

“Ever since you passed out, he’s been back and forth in this hut, getting your fever down, changing the bedding, and keeping everyone out to avoid spreading anything.” 

“Doesn’t sound like him at all,” Senku whispered more to himself than to Kohaku. 

“You’d think that wouldn’t you?” Kohaku smiled. “At first glance, maybe.”

“You disagree?”

“Not so much. But it’s nice to know there’s a tiny heart somewhere inside the bat bastard.” Kohaku said before standing up and winking at him. “I’ll leave you two to make up.”

Senku let out a sigh as he watched Kohaku walk away and close the door softly. 

The hut was quiet, with only two people in it. Especially when one of them was asleep. Senku laid there for a while, staring at Gen’s back and listening to his soft breathing. It felt oddly lonely. Senku wondered if this is how Gen felt when he had turned his back to him in the observatory. He closed his eyes and rolled onto his back, letting his eyelids peak open at the sky above them through the windows on the ceiling.

They had built the med hut a while before they finished the light bulb, and since they didn’t want any fumes from the fire torches to be inside with the sick, they built skylights on the top of the hut for lighting. They also attached malleable curtains to the skylights so that when it got too bright for the patients they could close the curtains to make it darker. At night, the curtains weren’t used so that the natural light that came through would act as a defense against pitch blackness. 

In other words, from the bed they lay in, they had a pretty good view of the stars above them. Maybe, it was the added illness, but Senku felt his heart clench at the sight. In retaliation against his own thoughts, Senku wrapped his arms around Gen’s waist and pulled him close, leaning his head into the other’s neck and closing his eyes, letting Gen’s presence wash over him. From the way, he smelled like flowers and the softness of his double-colored hair to the way they fit together like a puzzle. Senku started to wonder why they kept up the fight in the first place. 

He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, as Gen started shifting and groaning, obviously waking up from his nap. Senku sighed and started lightly kissing behind Gen’s ear down to his neck and shoulder, lapping at the skin like a kitten. 

“What the?” Gen groaned, tilting his head towards the source of wetness licking his neck. Senku felt Gen stiffen in his arms before he pointedly looked away and started struggling to get up. “Let me go.” Gen dead-panned at him. 

“No,” Senku whispered, burying his face into Gen’s hair. 

Gen struggled harder. “You’re sick. Let me go.”

“No. Stay.”

Gen sighed and stilled again. “You’re going to get me sick.” 

“You’ve got a mask; you’ll be fine.”

“The mask isn’t a super shield Senku-chan.” Gen groaned, growing concerned when he felt Senku shaking behind him. It took a minute but Gen realized he was shaking because he was giggling. “What?” Gen asked once the other had calmed down a little. 

“You said my name.”

“Yes, I did,” Gen said, perplexed at the strange behavior. 

“No, you said Senku-chan. Like you always do.” Senku kissed Gen’s ear again. “When you’re mad, you call me Senku.”

Gen huffed. “Are you trying to imply that I’m not still mad? Because believe me, I am still very - Ack!” Gen didn’t finish as Senku suddenly squeezed him tight, knocking the breath out of Gen’s sails before loosening again. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier, instead of being an asshole.” Senku whispered, making Gen freeze before retorting. “There is something keeping me from sleeping.” 

Gen didn’t answer, instead deciding to nod, ready to listen. Senku continued. 

“There are billions of stars out there. Millions of other universes we can’t see or hear, and yet we know they’re out there through science.” Senku trailed off before lowering his voice impossibly lower. “At least — at least that’s what Byakuya told me when I was little.” 

Gen understood immediately now. 

“I guess that by calculating and mapping each star I saw, it’d make me feel better about —”

Senku paused and took a deep breath to steady himself. “It was his birthday.” His voice trembled slightly. “And I didn’t even realize until it was too late.” 

Gen still didn’t answer, instead, wrapping his hand around Senku’s trembling one and squeezing it tight. 

“It’s stupid.” Senku continued. “I was never sentimental about that kind of stuff in the old world, so why is it different now?”

“Because your gaining emotions, Senku-chan.” Gen finally responded, his voice soft like Senku liked it. “You’ve had them all your life, and it’s good you’re finally acknowledging them.”

“They’re a waste of time.”

“Maybe.” Gen chuckled, feeling Senku’s lips quirk into a smile on his neck.

“I want to ignore them.”

“You can’t.” Gen sighed. “They’re part of you. Accepting that is the first step.”

“What’s the next step?”

“Dealing with them, like the rest of us.”

They leave a long pause between them before Senku hugged Gen tighter and whispered. “I’m sorry I kicked you out of the hut.”

In response, Gen snuggled deeper into Senku’s chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t resort to gentler means and tried to force you to do something you didn’t want.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled,” Senku mumbled. 

“You were tired.”

“So were you.”

“Only a little,” Gen admitted, closing his eyes and pulling down the mask on his face. 

“Thank you.” Senku smiled. “For you know, taking care of me.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks for opening up to me.”

Both stayed silent after that for a while as Senku went back to kissing Gen’s neck, only stopping when Gen suddenly elbowed Senku gently in the stomach, laughing. “Man, that was tense.”

“Yeah. Let’s never do that again.” Senku laughed along and agreed. Eventually, they both rolled over to lay on their backs with Gen resting his head on Senku’s chest. Together they looked up at the stars twinkling above them. 

“The moon looks beautiful tonight.” 

“Yeah, yeah, it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhh I am so whipped from jet lag. (just got home from vacation) That's why this ones so late, I'm sorry. At least my cat is sleeping better on my bed than me. Here's Sengen week day 3; Stargazing. 
> 
> I have a tumblr! @/ Widow-Spyder
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for making it this far!


End file.
